MUAY THAI: JENKINS BATTLES IN THAILAND TOMORROW
Thomas Jenkins, second from left fights in Thailand this Saturday night.
Jenkins is a former college football player turned powerhouse in the Muay Thai ring. He held a 19-4 record as an amateur and is currently (2-1) as a pro. The Minnesotan is a two time TBA Muay Thai champion, holds a couple of local titles and has been a part of WAKO team USA.
“Originally I started off with the aspirations of competing in MMA. I had just finished off my college football career which led me to weighing around 330 pounds. After searching online for nearby MMA gyms, I found The Academy. I had my first class which was Muay Thai taught by Nat McIntyre and fell in love with it from the jump. My first Muay Thai fight was about a year later. I was still pretty green and didn’t train as hard as I should have and got destroyed by a much better fighter. From that day I told myself that if I want to do this, I would have to lose weight and take it more serious. The rest was history. I ended up going 2-2 in my first four fights and then went on a ten fight winning streak that included my first TBA amateur tittle.”
Last time out, Minnesota fans saw Jenkins walk away victorious in the main event of Mecca XI on January 20th at Canterbury Park. He and Jacob Rodriguez traded bombs before Jenkins landed a fight-ending elbow that split the IFMA Pan American Champion wide open in round two. The fight was extremely entertaining despite being cut short and Jenkins said he would love to do it again when asked about a future rematch.
“I fought a stellar fighter in Jacob Rodriguez, who had just won the Pan Ams in Mexico a few months back. After watching some film on him, I knew he was very strong and had good boxing. I had a bit of a height advantage on him so the plan throughout my camp was to utilize my length and when he would crash in, I used my elbows. Fortunately it worked. I would love a rematch! I’m trying to fight as much as possible so if we can get it lined up either in MN or Texas I’m totally game.”
Jenkins has been in Thailand for a week training and says he will be staying until March 5th. He’s hoping to get another fight before heading home. Jenkins’ opponent on Saturday night is Petchdam Tor.Pran of Thailand.
“I will be fighting for Max Muay Thai against
Petchdam Tor.Pran. I don’t really know anything about him. I’ve seen a couple fights of his online and from I’ve seen, it should be a really good and exciting match up. My experience in Thailand has been great. I love the hard training. I prefer the heat over cold any day so that’s a added bonus. It’s a bit of a culture shock but in a good way. Everybody I have met here have been nothing short of amazing and courteous.”
“One of our coaches back in the states Kronphet Phetrachapat has been great with lining us up with fights over here. I also came to train at arguably one of the hardest gyms in Bangkok, Dejrat Muay Thai Academy. I want to see how they train and soak up all of the knowledge I can while I’m here. Coming to Thailand to train and fight has been something I’ve wanted to do since I began fighting.”
“I would like to thank all of my sponsors back home, Mr. Mouthguard and Therapy of Champions. Also my amazing training partners and coaches at the Academy. Ben Locken at Locken Fit for my strength and conditioning. My family and my beautiful girlfriend Makeda who is holding down the fort while I get to pursue my dream. Hopefully adding her to this list gets me brownie points for me not being there for Valentine’s Day (laughing).”